The Institute for Research on the Renaissance, the Neo-classical Age and the Enlightenment is a joint research centre (UMR 5186) of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). The Institute was created in 2003 after the merger of the Centre for Studies and Research on the English Renaissance and the Centre for 18th-Century Studies. Charles WHITWORTH, Professor of Renaissance Studies, and Dominique TRIAIRE, Professor of 18th-century French Literature, were respectively Director and Deputy Director from 2003 to 2009.

Since July 1, 2009, the centre is jointly run by Nathalie VIENNE-GUERRIN , Professor of Shakespeare and English Renaissance Studies (Director), and Jean-Pierre SCHANDELER , Research Fellow at the CNRS and a specialist of the French Enlightenment (Deputy Director).

The Institute counts some thirty University lecturers and professors, two CNRS research fellows, two CNRS research assistants and five members of support staff (librarian, administration, communication and business managers). Some thirty doctoral students are registered at the IRCL and engaged in a wide range of postgraduate research. The research activities of the IRCL cover the CONSTRUCTION AND EMERGENCE OF MODERN THOUGHT, in the fields of KNOWLEDGE, AESTHETICS and THE HISTORY OF THE BOOK. The common denominator behind the work we do is that we try never to dissociate the various components of our activities ? be they circumscribed in time (Renaissance, Classical Age and Enlightenment) or space (France and Britain), disciplinary (literature, arts, civilization, history of ideas) or thematic. Our commitment instead is to build bridges and explore areas of contact between these various fields. Research at the IRCL is organised around four major topics:

 

- Circulation of ideas and the renewal of literary forms in the French and British cultural areas (16 th -18 th centuries)

- Traditions, their circulation and transmission

- Drama and the moving picture

- The production, reception and circulation of books (16 th -18 th centuries) 

The IRCL seeks to foster high-quality, specialized research by creating a space which encourages the fruitful interactions of its members' respective fields of investigation. Far from endangering the specialisation that is necessary in all scientific activity, the cross-boundary explorations carried out within our team contribute to enrich the specific activities of its members, however specialised.